Female Versus Male Roles in the Workplace

The business culture has evolved tremendously in the past 50 years. Several countries have mandated policy reforms to replace male-dominated offices with greater degrees of equality. Consequently, this has given millions of women all over the world the opportunity to attain economic independence. While there is no denying that such reforms have positive implications, there is still no evidence suggesting that both genders could be equally suited for any job. There are roles that will always work in favor of masculine attributes, and vice versa. Here are roles in the workplace men and women play that work to each of their advantages.

Women Are Better Team Players

Female employees are more willing to form and participate in teams, in comparison to their male counterparts. This implies that women would be best suited for leadership roles that require a supportive nature, as seen in their ability to cause change through formation of labor unions. Since women are more in touch with their emotions, they can employ compassion in promoting team spirit at their workplace. Similarly, their ability to create a balance between assertiveness and persuasiveness helps them encourage constructive behavior without stepping on anyone’s toes.

Women Accept More Responsibility

As a result of lasting gender stereotypes that underestimate women at the workplace, they tend to take on more challenges in comparison to men. Studies have revealed that at least 70 per cent of female employees often ask for an increase in workload, whereas only half of male employees would ask for similar challenges. They are also more willing to work extra hours, postpone vacations and shrug off holiday time, if necessary. Unfortunately, experts have uncovered that their willingness to work harder sometimes makes it difficult to find a balance between work and family.

Men Are Better Negotiators

Despite the numerous reforms in today’s workplace, men can utilize their risk-taking skills and remaining sense of privilege to negotiate better deals. While women have much progress in persuading people, men tend to be more convincing when it comes to matters concerning asking for better pay, or influencing investors to put in more money. For example, among the students graduating from college in 2003, male students entering the workforce negotiated for more raises and salaries up to 8 percent higher than the female students.

Men Are More Confident

Male employees tend to be more relaxed at work in comparison to female workers. Their confidence gives them an upper hand when it comes to dealing with tasks that require any risk taking. Likewise, the men will often ask to take on tasks that they had not prepared for, even in cases where their female counterparts would feel less confident despite having diligently prepared. This confidence is probably the reason why men tend to receive more promotions than female employees.

Despite the obvious progress in the employment world, there are still some differences that drive a wedge between these roles. While the aforementioned roles may work to the advantage of male and female attributes, it does not mean that the each gender should feel a sense of entitlement to these roles in the workplace. Women employees can easily adopt any masculine trait to complement their professional expertise, and vice versa.